One By One
by halfadozentimes
Summary: Monroe is falling in love with Rosalee while Nick is realizing his true feelings for Monroe, and Nick struggles with what he should do.
1. Chapter 1

**I know that I have been bad about updating in the past, but I am going to do my best to post more often with this fic than the last. I wanted to finish the whole fic before ever posting but I just like it too much and want to share, so please bear with me and let me know what you think! :)**

It was the third night in a row that Nick didn't make it home until after Juliette had already gone to bed, the house dark and quiet. She had long since stopped waiting up for him, because when you have a job to go to the next morning, you can only stay up until two in the morning so many times. Nick quietly slipped in through the front door, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he walked to the kitchen.

'_Sorry I missed your call. Out with Rosalee.' _Nick had read that text from Monroe a million times since getting it two days before. That call hadn't been about anything important, Nick just wanted to talk, yet the two of them hadn't spoken at all in four days. Monroe was probably the best friend that Nick had ever had; the two of them had even lived together for awhile, and he did kind of miss the other after four days.

Nick got himself a glass of water and then headed upstairs, stripping off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt as he went. When we got up to the bedroom that he shared with Juliette, he set his now half empty glass of water on the bathroom sink before stripping off the rest of his clothes. After an almost endless day at work, it felt nice to put on an old pair of sweatpants and a shirt that had been in the drawer for so long that it had begun to smell like the wood of the dresser. Nick crawled under the covers, turned off the lamp on the night stand, then turned over onto his back next to Juliette's sleeping form.

Nick and Juliette had been together for nearly four years, and had been through so much together in that time. Juliette had finally learned the secrets of Nick's family, and instead of turning and running the other way, she had stuck with him through it. At this point in their relationship they were closer than they ever had been before, and had even talked about marriage before. When Nick got a break during the day we would visit Juliette at work, they went out for breakfast nearly every weekend, and it was safe to say that things were going really well for them, except for one small factor. Nick was falling out of love with Juliette.

It hadn't been sudden by any means, but rather had happened over the course of a few months. At first he started to get annoyed by little habits that she had always had, like not putting the toothpaste back in the medicine cabinet, and now he purposely stalled on his way home after work. If Juliette noticed it at all, she hadn't said anything. She was still as in love with Nick as ever, and it didn't seem that she was ever going to stop.

As he slowly started to doze off, Nick thought over all of his ideas on what he could do next. He couldn't just suddenly spring this on Juliette, and he couldn't just leave, either. He really wanted to talk to Monroe about it, because he knew that the other could help, but the both of them had been keeping busy with other matters. Nick took a deep breath, and finally fell asleep to the sound of Juliette's breathing, with the smell of her shampoo filling the air.


	2. Chapter 2

Nick stood on Monroe's front doorstep at five in the morning, hoping the other was awake. He was determined to talk to Monroe before he had to go to work, dying just to get a chance to talk about his waning feelings for Juliette. When Monroe didn't come to the door after two minutes, Nick figured the conversation would have to wait until another day, and then the door pulled open.

Monroe stood in the doorway in a blue T-shirt and flannel pajama pants, raising an eyebrow at Nick as if to question what in the world he was doing there so early. His hair was messy from sleep and he looked slightly annoyed, but he smiled at Nick all the same.

"Hey, Nick, everything okay? It's kind of early…"

"Yeah, everything's fine, Monroe. I just…I really need to talk to you, and now seems like the best time. I have to be at work soon, and I hardly ever get off until after midnight anymore."

"Alright…come on in." Monroe stepped back, holding the door open for Nick. "You want some coffee?"

"That would be great, thank you."

Monroe led Nick through his house to the kitchen, everything holding a sense of peace and beauty at such an early hour. Monroe rubbed the sleep from his eyes, turning his back on Nick to get a pot of coffee started. Nick took in a deep breath, watching the other man's every move and noticing little things, like the little sniffling sounds he made as he tried to fully wake himself up.

"So," Monroe started, turning around as the coffee maker started working behind him, "what's going on?"

"Well…" After all the times that he had wished he could talk to Monroe, now that it was happening, Nick was at a loss for words. "How have you been? We haven't talked in a few days."

"I'm doing well. But Nick, I know that you didn't come here at five in the morning just to ask how I've been." Monroe got two mugs out of the cabinet, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.

"No…you're right. I…Juliette and I…I just don't think-"

"Monroe?" A familiar female voice from the next room over stopped Nick in the middle of his broken statement.

"We're in here," Monroe called, grabbing yet another mug to fill with coffee.

"We?" Rosalee walked into the kitchen right then, looking only slightly surprised to see Nick. "Oh, hello Nick."

"Hi, Rosalee," Nick saint with a faint smile.

Monroe had filled up the three mugs with freshly brewed coffee, turning to hand one to Nick.

"No, I actually need to get to work. But thank you," Nick said.

"Alright, if you're sure. Do you want to meet somewhere when you get off work?" Monroe had a worried look on his face, raising an eyebrow at Nick.

"Maybe. I'll call you."

Nick didn't wait for a response or a goodbye or anything, just turned around and left as quickly as he could.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm so sorry that this update took so long! I hope you guys like this chapter though, thanks for reading. Let me know what you think :)**

"Nick."

Nick and Hank were sitting at their shared desk in the precinct. Hank had been spending the last ten minutes doing research for a case, while Nick had spent it staring into space.

"Yeah?" Nick snapped back to reality, raising an eyebrow at his partner.

"Are you alright? You look like you have something really heavy on your mind." Hank twisted an old stub of a pencil between his fingers, giving Nick a concerned look.

"I do have something on my mind, yes." Nick shifted his weight in his seat, pulling his iPhone out of his pocket.

"Anything I can help with?"

"No, Hank, but thank you. I'm just going to make a call."

Hank nodded, as Nick stood up from the desk and quickly dialed Monroe's number as he walked out into the hall. Monroe picked up after about the fifth ring.

"Hey, Nick, what's going on?"

"Um…not much. It's a bit of a slow day. I was just calling to see if, maybe if you're not busy, we could meet for dinner? There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Yeah, that sounds fine," Monroe responded after a moment's pause, "is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine, there's nothing to worry about. Does eight o'clock sound alright?"

"That works for me. Where do you want to meet?"

"I'm fine with wherever you want to eat. I have to get back to work, so just text me when you pick a place, okay?"

"Alright, Nick. I'll see you at eight o'clock, then."

"Yeah. Bye, Monroe."

##

Nick finished up his work by six o'clock, and unless he got called about a case, he would have the rest of his night to himself. He took his time getting home, getting Starbucks for himself and Juliette on the way. The sun was starting to get low in the sky as he walked up the front steps, dogs barking and birds chirping throughout the neighborhood.

"You're home early," was the first thing Juliette said to Nick when she saw him, sauntering over to meet him in the entryway.

"Work has been slow all day," Nick explained as he handed Juliette her warm coffee.

"Well it's nice to have you home before midnight for once." Juliette took a sip of her coffee before giving Nick a quick kiss and leaving the faint taste of caramel on his lips.

"Well before you get too excited, I should let you know that I'm meeting Monroe for dinner."

"I almost feel like you see Monroe more than me anymore." Juliette's face fell a little at the news that she wouldn't get to eat with her boyfriend that night.

"That's not true. I see _Hank _more than anybody anymore. I'm gonna go upstairs to take a shower before I have to go."

"How about I join you?" Juliette took a step closer to Nick, letting her hand fall at the button of his jeans.

"I…" Nick couldn't think of any good excuse for saying no, because the average guy is more than willing to shower with his girlfriend. But, the average guy isn't falling out of love with her, either.

# #

Nick couldn't form coherent thoughts or words, didn't remember that he didn't love her, hardly even remembered how to breathe, with Juliette's damp naked body pressed against his in the shower as she placed kisses along his neck and collarbone. Sliding his hands down her back to grab her ass and hold her close, Nick leaned down to kiss Juliette passionately.

It had been far too long since they had been physically close with Nick's recent work hours, and even though he had wanted to just clean up and clear his mind before meeting Monroe, Nick really couldn't complain.

"Do you think it would be safe to have sex in the shower?" Juliette questioned, pulling back from Nick's lips for a moment.

"Probably not, and I don't want to try explaining that at the hospital," Nick smiled as he fumbled with the shower controls behind him.

Nick and Juliette stepped out of the shower, not even drying off completely as they climbed into bed with their skin still damp.

It didn't take them very long at all to get into it, Juliette moaning Nick's name and Nick being gentle while still being rough like Juliette liked it. After they both reached their peaks and came with the other's name on their lips, they lay side-by-side trying to remember how to breathe again.

"Wait…Nick, it's 7:45, what time were you supposed to meet Monroe?"

"Dammit!"


End file.
